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Angel in Billings
The trek from California through the mountain states towards home landed me in Billings, MT mid-day last week.
I stopped for a quick bite to eat, then ordered a souped-up coffee at a local cafe, coffee which was intended to amp me up enough to reach Bismarck, ND.
The oil rush means hotels between Billings and Bismarck are expensive and scarce, so I brought my laptop into the cafe in Billings and rented a room in Bismarck online.
Feeling quite smug about my planning and organizational skills, I grabbed my coffee, threw my jacket in the back seat of the car and headed down the interstate, determined to make quick work of the 411 mile trip.
Montana traffic moves at a steady 80 mph, and with the tunes blaring and a double shot of caffeine coursing through my veins, I felt in the driver's seat in more way than one.
Then my cell phone rang. It was my brother, back home in Minnesota.
"Some woman just called from Billings," he said. "She says she has your laptop."
Oh, for stupid. I had left my laptop at the coffee shop!
Turning around to go back to get it would mean getting into Bismarck an hour later. Uff da. Could the woman mail it?
Then I thought, its just an hour, I have nothing better to do. I took down the woman's number, which I assumed was that of the coffee shop, declared myself an "authorized vehicle," and made U-turn at one of those crossings for authorized vehicles only.
Zooming back towards Billings, the phone rang. It was the woman from Billings. She had my laptop and was willing to meet me outside of town.
I said, "are you going to have to take off work at the coffee shop?"
"What coffee shop?" she replied, confused.
"Well, where did you find my computer?" I asked.
"In the gutter on the street in front of Wal-mart," she said.
Wow. I was even more stupid than I thought.
Then my memory returned. I had left the laptop, a razor-thin McBook Air, on the hood of my car. Silver in color, the computer apparently blended in so well that I didn't see it as I drove the first couple of blocks.
Eventually, it fell off the hood. How I missed seeing or hearing it is beyond me. Was I putting on my seatbelt? Was I turning up the tunes? I'll never know.
The woman, named Kristen, whom I have dubbed the "Angel of Billings," saw the laptop on the street, opened it, found my name, took a picture of the computer, posted it on Facebook assuming that I was from Billings and that somebody might know me, and then undertook an internet search to find how she might find me.
She saw that a person by my name was associated with a nursery in northwestern Minnesota, and called that nursery.
Once we connected, she offered to come out meet me at the Flying J truck stop on the edge of town, saving me twenty miles.
Was I glad I had turned around! I wanted to meet this person who had gone so far out of her way yet sounded as if it was no big deal.
When I pulled into the Flying J, there stood Kirsten, a tiny thing with fashionable glasses, in sweats. She had been apparently working out.
Only twenty-three years old and working retail, Kirsten didn't want to take anything for her kindness, but I said take it and hand it out to the bums if you feel guilty.
Technology being what it is today, we were friends on Facebook by the time departed from the parking lot.
According to her Facebook profile, Kirstin is also a "bikini athlete." That is, she lifts weights and conditions her body to enter bikini contests.
As far as I am concerned, Kirsten is already a champion, bikini or not!
When I left the parking lot, I was sky high. What a wonderful kid! What a great boost in my faith in humanity!
As you can imagine, I was in a far better mood than I was before I found out my computer had been found in a gutter.
The computer had a dent, which I fixed with a plier. Otherwise, it is fine.
Oh, the hassle Kristen saved me with her act of kindness.
The trip to Bismarck flew by. It was a foggy night-time as I passed through the southern edge of the Bakken Oil field. Flares lit up the sky. Drilling rigs glowed with klieg lights. Dickinson bustled, even at 10 p.m.
It looked like Christmas out there on the prairie. I felt like it was Christmas to me, too, thanks to the Angel from Billings.


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In case you missed it, Treveon Graham is going to be playing for the United States at the World University Games July 7-16 in Kazan, Russia. Only 12 players in the country can say that. It's a big deal. The last Ram wear USA Basketball red, white and blue was Eric Maynor, who did so in 2007 at the Pan Am Games, after "The Dagger" and before his junior season. Graham will be the youngest player on this year's squad.
Meanwhile, VCU Coach Shaka Smart has been serving as an assistant for the USA Basketball U19 squad in Prague.
Shaka Smart and the Team USA U-19 squad romped over Russia 115-47 today in Prague. The U.S. moves to 3-0. #USABasketball
— District Baller (@DistrictBaller) June 29, 2013
More on that HERE.
The NBA free agency period began Monday at midnight. It sounds like Eric Maynor will be looking for a new team.
NBA free agency begins today – Eric Maynor's stint in Portland seems finished http://t.co/OqAxBk6dBz http://t.co/hXKZ8oyqoh #LetsGoVCU
— Around The Horns (@VCUHorns) July 1, 2013
But don't worry, he should have suitors.
Washington Post's Michael Lee says the Wizards could have interest in Eric Maynor http://t.co/eM5ArmiE4v#LetsGoVCU
— Around The Horns (@VCUHorns) July 1, 2013
Edit, more Maynor:
Tomorrow's column today. Buy the paper anyway. Bringing @EMaynor3 to the Wizards a good move that would thrill me http://t.co/NXWkg3PjuG
— Mike Harris (@WashTimesMike) July 1, 2013

subset: commoncrawl


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Boys' Canvas Shoes & Boots
If you're looking for good value, quality, canvas trainers for your little boy then you're in the right place, we have a great range with a variety of styles and designs for you to choose from. Whether you like Velcro or laces, quilted or original, hi-tops or espadrilles, you'll find it here in our amazing selection. We even have footwear from some of your kids' favourite characters such as Fireman Sam, Cars and Dinosaur Hunter, as well as top brands including Crosshatch, Converse and more!


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The bus is late and crowded, so I am forced to sit in the very back.
To my left: Two dudes rolling joints, counting change, and discussing the relative fluid levels in their lighters.
To my right: A young woman talking on a cell phone, apparently to another young woman who is taking care of her child. She alternates between coaching the caretaker in the fine art of potty training (Ask him if he wants to go poo-poo.), giving orders to the child over the speaker (Darrell, I'm not playing–you'd better eat that sandwich!), and gossiping.
To my far right: A mailman in short shorts, showing way too much thigh for February (OK, ever) reading a car-racing magazine.
Folks with car commutes: What you got?


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Hi~ My question is: Is there a way to display text below the user input (in this case "cin>>") in a console application? I want the text to be displayed when the input is also displayed.
here's an example of what I mean...
Text here
User input here
more text underneath.


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I had a quick question for you. Today my mother went to target and tried to use some manufacturer coupons. She tried to use them on the travel items in order to get them for free. When she presented the coupons to the cashier she said that they could not accept them because they were for more than the price of the item. Example: She tried to use a $1 Manufacturer Coupon for tide on a travel size that was selling for $.94. She looked at the coupon and it said any tide product. There was no size restrictions or anything. When asked why they couldn't accept the coupon the cashier asked the manager to come to her line and the manager preceded to tell my mother that they couldn't accept the coupons. I have read on your blog and others that you can use manufacturer coupons and store coupons on travel items to get them for free. Has anyone else ran into this problem? Is there an official store policy? When my wife and I used coupons at target on a separate trip they allowed us to use them although the coupons were worth more than the price of the item. Also on your post about getting target cereal for free or cheap, it said to get target to price match the walgreens ad, but in your store policies section it says target will not price match. Will they price match or will they not?
Thank you for your time
So here it is:
- Target Stores MUST accept a coupon for $1 if the item rings up at $.94, but they do not give overage, they just adjust the coupon down. Here is verbatim what their policy says: "We can't give cash back if the face value of a coupon is greater than the purchase value of the item; in this case, we're able to adjust the value of the coupon to equal the price of the item."
- Go HERE for the Official Store Policy, or better yet, request your very own copy by emailing corporate.
- Target does Match Competitor Prices. Just bring in their ad, and they will match the price on the EXACT item.
- Lastly AND MOST IMPORTANTLY Target has this to say: "All Target stores should be following the same coupon policy. The next time you have an issue using coupons please have them call us at (800) 440-0680 while you're still in the store. Our Guest Relations Team will help assist with any questions they may have about coupons." If you run into a problem like this KCG mentions in their question, and the manager is refusing your coupon (especially on a trial size item when there is NO size restriction) have the manager call the number listed while you are still in the store. We have had a large number of you do this, with great success. Corporate will explain to their manager that you are correct! Please insist that the manager call EVERYTIME you have a problem. This is the only way they will start enforcing the policy correctly and consistently.
Right now:
1. Grab your cell phone. (I'll wait while you do)
2. Dial (800) 440-0680
3. Save this Number as Target Customer Relations.
4. Leave a Comment, letting us know that you did it.


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New Lasers Are Mainstreaming Micro-Machining
Technical demands from the electronic, medical, aerospace and other industries are pushing the boundaries of micro-machining to smaller and more precise tolerances. The application of laser technology is pacing the demands from industry for smaller geometries and increasingly tighter specifications.
An example of this can be found in machining circuit paths for electronics that must be 10 microns with a tolerance of 1 micron. The process must be performed quickly, and with depth of cut control that does not affect the substrate beneath the circuit path.
Featured Content
A newly introduced short pulse laser is finding acceptance machining fine features in a variety of materials. The laser is called Staccato and is made by RPMC Lasers in O'Fallen, Missouri.
For micro-machining applications, the fundamental wavelength of this laser unit is 1 micron. It delivers 13-picosecond long, diffraction limited pulses at a peak power rating as high as 38 megawatts, according to the company, which is far higher than most conventional industrial lasers. A single pulse from the laser removes materials as thin as 1 nanometer and as thick as 1 micron, depending on the material being cut.
A technological advance of this new laser is its ability to generate peak power at 100 kHz—that's 100,000 pulses per second. This translates into a significant improvement in the amount of material that can be removed.
Owing to its short pulse and rapid frequency, the "heat affected zone" usually associated with longer frequency laser pulses is reduced or eliminated. At the ultra-high frequency of the Staccato, material is blasted from the cutting zone and does not have time to recast on the workpiece surface. The result is a smooth and accurate cut at relatively high production rates.
This new laser system is designed for use on the factory floor. It is not a laboratory machine. It works well in a manufacturing, shopfloor environment.
The laser is designed to be an augment to conventional laser machining. It is not designed to replace conventional lasers but, rather, to offer manufacturers a tool to make cuts that are currently beyond conventional laser technology.
The Staccato short pulse laser is a niche tool for micro-machining. And micro-machining is a growing niche in manufacturing.


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August 23, 2012
Homemade Ricotta
I've always had an interest in making my own goat cheese.....mostly because I wanted to get goats as pets and my husband isn't interested, so I thought maybe if they serve a purpose then he'd be good with it. He's still not interested though - he said making goat cheese is a lot of work. I'm thinking he just doesn't want me to get a goat!
Anyway, I saw Ina Garten make ricotta cheese on her show a while back and I couldn't believe how simple it was! I had printed out the recipe and put it in my ever growing pile and forgot about it. Then this past weekend I had a little time on my hands, so I pulled out that pile of recipes I've been meaning to try and there it was. Since I had some whole milk needing to be used up I decided it was time to give making homemade ricotta a try.
This turned out to be super easy, and super delicious. Big difference from store bought ricotta. This was smoother and creamier, and the overall taste was just better. Totally worth the effort/time, and from now on I will make my own. I love when I find things like this that take so little time...just goes to show, homemade is always better!
Homemade Ricotta (Ina Garten)
2 cups whole milk
1 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/2 tsp salt
Set a colander over a bowl, and line it with 2 layers of dampened cheesecloth. Add the milk, cream and salt to a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a full boil over medium heat, then turn off the heat and stir in the vinegar. Let the mixture stand for 1 minute, or until it curdles.
Pour into the cheesecloth line colander and allow it to drain into the bowl beneath for about 20-25 minutes. The longer it drains the thicker the ricotta will be. Once it's reached your desired thickness, transfer the ricotta to a bowl and discard the cheesecloth and remaining whey/liquid. Will keep in refrigerator for up to 5 days. Makes 1 cup.
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Tagged: Gameday Ap
Joan Jett, 42 and Angels Baseball Memories: More Random Offseason Thoughts
Hello blogosphere, it's been a few weeks…a completely unintended borderline hibernation, in fact. Anyway, as a result of the time off, my brain is a jumble of what to blog about first…especially because the Angels have had quite the quiet January, a very good thing really, considering the team is basically set at this point. So, here goes:
I adored the interview with Joan Jett on Hot Stove last Friday. I've always loved her music and I had a vague idea that she's an O's fan, but I had no idea exactly how much of a kick ass baseball fan she is until the interview. I giggled and cheered when she said, perfectly mater of factly, that she keeps an iPad on stage, open to the MLB Gameday Ap when she tours during baseball season. *flashes the universal sign for 'rock on' with genuine enthusiasm* It's always nice to hear how absolutely not alone I am in being unable to refrain from checking…okay, being all but glued to…the Gameday Ap at wholly inappropriate times.
I'm sure that, by now, everyone has seen the second trailer for 42 but just in case…
I cannot tell you how excited I am for this movie. Wow! The trailer looks so good, that it literally gives me goose bumps of anticipation. I can't wait! On another note, what does is say about me that the perfectly real crack of the ball on that bat at the end is absolutely music to my offseason ears? You know, other than nutcase? In all seriousness, I think that sound is good therapy for the offseason blues. Until someone either invents a "Crack O'the Bat" white noise generator for baseball fans, or Spring Training games start airing, I recommend watching the trailer every few days…and I know that only some of you are judging me right now while the rest are nodding right along. 😉
So, as I mentioned, I hadn't planned on hibernating for any length of time this offseason. But, sadly, I'm coming to find that Januarys may just find me mopey and unproductive for the foreseeable future. One year ago my husband and I lost our best friend, Chet. I assumed that the anniversary of his death wouldn't hit me so hard, but I was reminded once again that there really is no timetable for mourning. However, it is infinitely better to mourn than to forget and sharing good memories definitely takes the raw edge off. As it happens, a few of the many happy memories that have been getting us through this time are centered around the Angels. One of the last times we three hung out together before Chet started to get really sick was at the Angels' Labor Day game against the Mariners.
Chet hadn't been to a baseball game since he was a kid and he really enjoyed being back in a ballpark. The weather was perfect. It was a good game that ended with a lit halo and the outfield featured my then favorite Mike Trout, Peter Bourjos, Torii Hunter combo and Chet was really taken with the athleticism of Torii and the youngsters and with Mark Trumbo's bat. He asked shrewd questions about the players and the mixed bag of a season. At one point, Trout came flying into the stands just a few rows in front of our left field field box seats and, after we all oohed and ahhed over the near catch, Chet added a hearty, "Ladies, you need a fishing license to keep a Trout that big" to our usual joking about how balls flying into the stands might make fine souvenirs but the ever present crowd of sign waving Trout/Bourjos/Trumbo admirers still needed to give the outfielders back.
Another memory that makes me smile from that game — there were two very good looking young women, one of them definitely my friend's type, sitting a few rows in front of us one section over and I noticed him noticing them a few times in between innings. When they got up at one point with all signs pointing toward a beer run, Chet donned a pair of sunglasses to watch them more closely with such subtlety and smoothness — seriously, there are not enough Os in smooth to describe the skill of this maneuver — that I would have never picked up on what he was really doing, were it not for one detail…the sun had been down for about an inning at this point, a fact I pointed out once the ladies were well out of earshot. I will always remember Chet's wonderful laugh in response — he had such a great laugh and this is the memory where I can most hear it loud and clear! — and the half sheepish, half mischievous smile on his face. However, I do wish he'd taken me up on my suggestion that we clearly needed more beer at that point. 😉
Anyway, Chet had a good enough time that for the small remaining part of the season he watched Angels baseball on TV and called or texted us to chat about the games, ask questions and argue over minutiae, you know, as you do. Baseball on TV is such an economical, feel good way to get your entertainment with plenty of substance for your brain to chew on that he got sucked back in, which is oddly and appropriately parallel to how Seth and I got back in to baseball years before. I will always wish I had more time with Chet. As another friend observed when a bunch of us got together to toast his memory on the actual anniversary, 'However long you knew Chet, however much time you spent together, none of us got enough time.' But I will always be grateful to that silly, attended completely on a whim, Angels game for giving us just one more reason to hang out, to chat, to build the kind of memories that make you smile and laugh.


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Whats Happening This Week
There is much more to explore in our calendar. Find other important events in literary history, authors' birthdays, and a variety of holidays, each with related lessons and resources.
Looking for age-appropriate book recommendations, author interviews, and fun activity ideas? Check out our podcasts.
Home › Classroom Resources › Calendar Activities
January 19
Poet and author Pat Mora was born on this day in 1942.
|7 – 12
|Calendar Activity Type
|Author & Text
A poet and author equally skilled at writing for both youth and adult audiences, Pat Mora has written a number of children's books and collections of poetry. She is the founder of Día: El día de los niños/El día de los libros, Children's Day/Book Day, an initiative aimed at spreading what Mora calls "bookjoy" to all young readers. Mora is a champion of multilingual expression, as evidenced by many of her books and poems, including The Desert is My Mother/El Desierto Es Mi Madre.
- Begin this word association activity by arranging students in two groups. Ask one group to write down as many words as they can that relate to the word desert. Have the other group focus on the word mother.
- Have the groups share their lists, and ask students to look for words or phrases that show overlap between the concepts. Discuss their findings.
- Introduce Pat Mora's book The Desert is My Mother/El Desierto Es Mi Madre, and explain that the book is actually a poem that develops an extended metaphor. Stress that effective extended metaphors suggest several appropriate likenesses between two seemingly unlike things.
- As you read the story aloud, have students listen for ways that the narrator finds the desert similar to a mother. Have the class compare the words and images in the book to the lists they brainstormed earlier and discuss the surprising number of ways the desert can be considered like a mother.
- Share a few more extended metaphors, such as the poem "Fog" by Carl Sandburg or the Shakespearean speech "All the World's a Stage." Discuss how these texts exemplify the definition of extended metaphor.
- Ask students to write their own extended metaphor poems by asking them to choose a famliar concept (such as school, family, or friends) and think of a surprising comparison concept. Provide prewriting resources such as a two-column chart or a concept web to support students' writing process. Once they have written their poems, ask students to share their writing with the class.
- Pat Mora: Author of Poetry, Nonfiction, and Children's Books
Pat Mora's homepage includes lists of her publications as well as educator resources, activities for young readers, and a look at her future publications.
- Pat Mora
From the Academy of American Poets, this author page provides biographical information on Pat Mora.
- Día! Diversity in Action
The official ALSC site for El Día de Los Niños/El Día de Los Libros includes a state-by-state list of Día events, library programming ideas, a Día fact sheet, and downloadable Día brochures.
- Pat Mora Video Interview
In this Reading Rockets interview, Pat Mora discusses her work and heritage, including her views on the need for more diverse voices in literature for children.
Grades 3 – 5 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Color PoemsUsing the Five Senses to Guide Prewriting
Students use their five senses as a prewriting tool to guide their poetry writing as they compose free-form poems using imagery to describe a color.
Grades 6 – 8 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Color of Silence: Sensory Imagery in Pat Mora's Poem "Echoes"
Pat Mora's poem "Echoes" demonstrates that our senses are powerful tools for literary analysis and comprehension as students use their senses to discover new ways to read and write.
Grades 9 – 12 | Lesson Plan | Standard Lesson
Writing about Writing: An Extended Metaphor Assignment
After discussing the poem "The Writer" by Richard Wilbur, students analyze their own writing habits and create an extended metaphor describing themselves as writers.


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Item Description
Legal Document, Abandonment of Land near Lawrence
Author: Pratt, Caleb S.; Updegraff, E.
Date: October 15, 1855
This document dated October 15, 1855, and signed by Caleb S. Pratt, Levin B. Dennis, Joshia Smith, and R. T. Hooton, appeared to be their statement of abandonment for any claim to "lands situated in the vicinity of Lawrence" (640 acres) as defined within the agreement. It seemed that Charles Robinson was to locate "a Wyandotte Indian Float" on this same section of land.
Location of Original: KSHS Call Number: Charles & Sara Robinson Collection, #488, Box 1, Folder 1
Item Number: 100644 Number of images: 2
Keywords: Dennis, Levin B.; Douglas County, Kansas Territory; Hooten, R. T.; Lawrence, Kansas Territory; Pratt, Caleb S.; Robinson, Charles, 1818-1894; Smith, Joshia; Updegraff, E.; Wyandot Float; Wyandot Indians
pg. 1
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Self documented development through inch-pebble checkins
Developers hate writing documentation. But when you find a weird bug or need to understand why a certain change was done, then you wish you had proper documentation. The problem seems hard to solve. Good comments can help and techniques like diff debugging and proper code review tools can help too. But what every developer does on a regular basis is checking in code to his repository. What if the way in which you check in could help self documenting the code?
Side note: I find the technique I describe here not only good for self documenting changes but also to capture the way in which lead programmers work in such a way it can be used to teach the newcomers...
The problem: code that changed too much
We use branch per task pattern internally and we enforce reviewing changes done on branches as a prior step to integration (merging). But sometimes code changes too much and running a diff doesn't seem to help us much as it does when the modification is small. Let me explain why:
A couple of weeks ago I was developing a new functionality which required making some changes on a existing source file and adding other two new ones. Since the new functionality was going to share a good part of the code with the existing one, most of my work was doing a refactor to correctly place common code.
When I finished the change I run a diff on the previously existing source file, showing all the changes I did, which is what a code reviewer could easily do as soon as my branch was marked as finished.
Look at the diff tool scrollbar on the right: it shows a ton of changes, so it's not going to be easy to check what really changed and what did not, or what exactly I did based on the diff.
Inch-pebble checkins
Inch-pebble is a term used in software engineering to describe mini milestones as Johanna Rothman describes here.
I'm borrowing the term to describe a process in which you check-in code very often to your SCM and always containing really small and easy to understand changes (hence code inch-pebbles).
What I decide to do on my task was to describe my changes, but instead of using some sort of log file, I checked in code every time I changed a few lines of code. This way every changeset (you know any modern version control will logically group all the files you check-in together, and each of this logical groups will be known as a changeset, a commit or a transaction depending on your SCM's jargon) will help understanding what I did, step by step.
I moved a private method from the top of the class to the bottom (privates should always go at the end), so I created a changeset describing this change. I moved some code from the old class to a new one containing new code, so I created a new changeset containing only this change. I created a new method to handle part of the new functionality, another changeset. And I continued until the code was finished.
Remember I'm using a branch to hold all this changes, so I'm free to commit as often as I want, and I don't have to worry about breaking the build or the trunk. My purpose was creating a sequence of well documented changes so that someone could follow and understand my changes later on, step by step. Somehow, I'm recording a movie of my way of working, frame by frame. It's easier to understand a refactor step by step than looking at the whole process once it's finished.
I think this can be applied not only to refactors, but also for new functionalities, and if correctly done, it could be used to capture the way of working so that not only the results but the process itself gets recorded on the version control tool, storing very important information that could be reused by other developers to understand how things get done around here.
At the end of the day, the original file I started working on (I won't include the new ones) had the following history:
Reviewing changes, watching the changeset movie
Since I was checking in so often, I created a set of changesets that can be reviewed, step by step.
Each cset contains a set of modified files plus a hopefully meaningful comment. With the right tools you can easily and graphically inspect each cset content in such a way you'll be following the steps of the developers as if he was wearing some sort of code camera.
What I described is not new but I thought it can be helpful to support the check-in early, check-in often rule of thumb. It's not only good to work on small and hopefully tested steps, but also to self document your changes in such a way someone can understand the reason why a certain change was made and whether it is right or wrong, something extremely important once a project gets bigger than a few thousand lines of code.
SCM tools can help a little bit more playing changeset movies, creating a new and more effective way to run code reviews.


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Saturday, June 29, 2013
World Camera Day
June 29th is Camera Day! DRC loves that we can provide photos of so many special moments each and every single day of the year. We love to see pictures our supporters send us and hope that you all enjoy the photos we post for you. Don't forget to snap as many memories as you can.
Posted by The DRC Family at 10:55 AM


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Remember when Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg went berserk and bit Sony in the face? Sure you do! On Larry Hryb's podcast, Greenberg expressed what was going through his head:
I was basically expressing my frustration at a lot of specific things that they had promised over time... I think Sony has had a history of over-promising and under-delivering. [I was] just using actual facts of all the things that they had promised. I think I talked to some folks about this afterwards, but I think as an industry, we owe it to our customers to be straight with them. I think that some of the stuff we've talked about, while the reaction may not always be positive, we're going to tell you... People just want you to be straight with them. We know titles slip, we know things happen, and there's little we can do to control that, but if we promise something — I think as an industry — we need to start living up to our promises. As an organisation, i think Xbox has a pretty good track record of doing that.
You sure, Aaron?
Podcast [Larry Hryb via videogaming247] [Pic]


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Im mimicking a bank type program as a side project. I dont know exaclty how to have someone type in a money value such as 300.02 and have it read it and work with it. Everytime I do it just quits the program.
Heres the code
Java pastebin - collaborative debugging tool
Line 65 where its asking for input is where the problem is.


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Dean is a consultant engineer and principal of Golden Bits Software. He can be contacted at [email protected]
Developing Linux kernel-level software can be a difficult task. Your code has to work well within the kernel (can't hog resources or hold spin locks for long periods of time), be multithreaded, and run smoothly on several Linux distributions. Depending on the product and driver, 40-50 percent of your development time will be spent testing your driver on different Linux distributions, with different system loads, and under a range of error conditions such as hardware failures or out-of-memory cases. No matter how the hardware fails or if the operating system is out of resources, your driver should never cause a panic. The bottom line is "test test test" and "debug debug debug." It isn't glamorous, but this is how solid products are created.
Unfortunately, there isn't a lot of kernel-level debugging support in Linux. The only available stock tool (one that is always available) is the good old debug printk(). (Remember debugging your first program, "Hello World," with printf()? Ugh!) Print statements alone are completely inadequate when debugging any kernel code of moderate complexity. Fortunately for kernel developers, there is the Kernel Debugger (KDB). Although not part of the official kernel release from kernel.org, KDB has been around for a while and become the de facto kernel debugger of choice.
In this article, I explain how to debug drivers with KDB, add hooks into KDB from your drivers, and create KDB modules. I also include several KDB tips and a sample driver (available electronically; see "Resource Center, page 4).
KDB Overview
KDB is an assembly-level debugger. To use it, you should be familiar with assembly to write and debug kernel code. It's handy if you can decode a stack trace and the assembly instructions that worked on the stack. There is also a good source-level kernel debugger called "kgdb" that supports the 2.4 and 2.6 kernels (see http://sourceforge.net/projects/kgdb/) and is worth investigating. If possible, you might want to set up two development systems or two different bootable kernelsone with KDB and the other with kgdb. KDB provides a command-line interface from which you can run various debug commands to dump memory, view registers, look at stack traces, and more. Typing the help command or "?" at the KDB prompt displays all of the commands. The nice thing about KDB is that it's "lightweight," meaning it does not interfere or change the normal flow and timing of the kernel code during runtime. Unlike a source-level debugger, you do not have to compile your driver with debug information. Sometimes this extra debug information does change the timing of your driver, and this subtle difference can mask a bug.
KDB is invoked when a breakpoint is hit, the system panics, or by the break key. The main entry point for KDB is kdb() in kdb/kdbmain.c; when invoked, KDB disables interrupts for the local processor, and stops the other processors and disables their interrupts. All interrupts are disabled (with the exception of nonmaskable interrupts) when KDB is invoked. If your hardware generates an interrupt request while you are in KDB, the request is ignored until you leave KDB.
You often hear that KDB is the Linux kernel's "built-in" debugger. In this case, "built-in" doesn't necessarily mean what you usually think. In fact, look hard when you download the kernel source (http:// www.kernel.org/). You won't find any KDB source, so you'll have to apply a KDB patch to your kernel. Kernel patches for KDB are available from ftp://oss .sgi.com/projects/kdb/download/, the latest being Version 4.4. But beware of these patches because they are usually written for a generic kernel from kernel.org and not for a specific distribution. As a result, sometimes these patches do not work for a specific distribution such as Red Hat or Mandrake, and it's usually the distribution you need to test against! You might have to tweak the patch itself or hopefully the distribution contains a version of KDB that compiles and runs. For this article, I used the Mandrake 10.0 distribution, which does come with KDB already bundled with the kernel source. After the KDB patch has been applied, you need to turn on debugging via the kernel configuration menu and rebuild the kernel. The configuration menu selection is under "Kernel Hacking/Built-in Kernel Debugger" support. Two other menu selections of note are "KDB Modules" and "KDB Off by Default."
KDB modules let you extend the functionality of KDB itself, a powerful feature. KDB Off by Default controls whether KDB is enabled at boot time or manually enabled by the user at a later time (off by default). If KDB is disabled and the kernel panics, KDB is not invoked. To enable KDB after boot, use the command "echo "1" > /proc/sys/kernel/kdb"; to disable, use "echo "0" > /proc/sys/kernel/kdb". You can run KDB from the console or via a serial cable. Using a serial connection is preferable because if the kernel panics while the console is running X-Windows (rendering your keyboard useless), you can still use KDB via the serial cable. Terminal programs, such as Minicom, provide a history of commands and KDB output to which you can refer while debugging. To set up a serial connection, you need to configure the kernel to boot using the serial port as a console and a NULL modem cable. The details are documented in linux/Documentation/serialconsole.txt. Even if you are not using KDB, it's handy to have a serial console to save any kernel messages while debugging. For example, if an overnight test is running and in the morning the system is hung, hopefully there will be some useful debug information on the serial console.
You can also configure KDB to your personal preferences by using the kdb_cmds text file. This file can contain environment variables such as number of lines to display and KDB commands such as breakpoints. However, since this file is compiled into KDB itself, you must recompile KDB whenever you make any changes.
Common Commands
When you drop into KDB, the KDB prompt displays on the console terminal (or minicom if connected via serial line). From the KDB command prompt, you can start entering debugging commands. Type the "?" for a listing of commands. Figure 1 is sample output of the KDB help command. Some useful debugging commands are:
- id. Disassembles instructions at a specific address. You can use the instruction pointer address to find the name of a function. Here's where you need to understand some assembly code. When the kernel panics, the instruction pointer (IP) at the time of the panic is saved. From this IP, you can use the id command to disassemble the code. Figure 2 is sample output from the id command. From this assembly, you can then figure out where in the source code the panic occurred. To help determine the exact location of the panic, compile your source code into just the assembly part by using the "-S" option with GCC. The result is assembly intermixed with source-code line numbers.
- ss. Single steps an instruction.
- bp. Sets a breakpoint.
- mm. Looks at memory. You can also modify memory contents.
- dmesg. Prints messages in the kernel message buffer. This lets you view the most recent system messages before KDB was invoked.
KDB Modules, Extending KDB, & Custom KDB Commands
A powerful KDB feature is the ability to extend KDB's functionality by adding your own debugging module, referred to as a "KDB module." This lets you add debugging commandsspecific to your driverdirectly into KDB itself. A KDB module is a kernel module, similar to a device driver, that registers itself with KDB when it is loaded. Like drivers, KDB modules contain module_init() and module_exit() functions and are loaded into the kernel using the insmod command.
When the module is loaded, the function kdb_register() is called for each command you wish to register with KDB. In the sample KDB module that I provide (available electronically), the function tank_kdbm_init() in the source file tank_kdbm.c contains the code that registers a debug command with KDB. The prototype of the kdb_register() function is:
kdb_register(char *cmd, kdb_func_t func,
char *usage,char *help, short minlen);
where cmd is a pointer to the command string (this is the actual command used at the KDB prompt); func is a pointer to the function KDB calls when this command is entered; usage describes how this command is issued and lists any arguments for this command; help is the help text; and minlen is the minimum length of the command and also lets you abbreviate commands.
Note the func argument. This is a pointer to a function that is called when the command, pointed to by the *cmd argument, is executed from the KDB prompt. This function is where you actually implement (via code) your debugging command. If you look at the KDB source file, kdbmain.c, you notice that all of the debugging commands are registered with the function kdb_register(). Also, there is a kdb_unregister() function that must be called when your module or driver unloads. If you don't unregister your debug command, KDB has no knowledge that the command and function for that command is no longer loaded. When the command is executed from the KDB prompt, the old function pointer is called (which by now points to some random memory) and Boom!panic. How do you create your own KDB module? Registering the KDB command is straightforwardsimply call the kdb_register(). But what about the function KDB calls?
Whenever you add a KDB command, you also have to supply a corresponding function for this command. The function prototype is:
static int
debug_func(int argc, const char **argv,
const char **envp, struct pt_regs *regs)
where argc is the number of arguments passed to the debug command; **argv is the pointer to the array of arguments (identical to how arguments are passed to a main() function); **envp is a pointer to the array of environment variables; and *regs is a pointer to the registers (can be NULL).
This debug function is called by KDB directly and is executed while KDB has control of the system. As such, when writing your debug function, keep in mind the execution context of your debug function: The system is halted, interrupts are disabled, the kernel panics, memory might be corrupted, and who knows what else.
Because of this context, you probably will be limited in the amount and type of things you can do within your debug function. You can call other kernel functions and subsystems (such as the network stack), but because the kernel is probably in an unstable state (which is why you are in the debugger), these calls may not be successful and will further destabilize the kernel. It is best to keep your debug function simple; limit the work to the specific debug command. Usually you will want to dump some data structures or set/reset some values within your driver. After these warnings and suggestions, remember that it is your code and project, so if you need to perform any complex debugging work (such as sending debug output over a network connection), then go for it.
KDB provides a set of functions you should use whenever possible, which are exported from kdbmain.c. Some of the commonly used KDB functions are kdb_printf(), kdb_getarea_size(), kdb_putarea_size(), and kdb_getenv(). For more details, check the KDB code itself.
It is often necessary to pass arguments with your debug command, such as the number of lines to display. In the sample KDB module, the number of lines to display is passed as an argument for both the tankdata and tankthrd debug commands. Arguments are passed using the argc and **argv parameters, just like a main() function. The number of arguments is contained in argc, and a pointer for each argument is contained in the char array pointed to by **argv.
In addition to creating a standalone KDB module that you can load (via insmod) to debug your driver, you can also register KDB commands using the kdb_register() function directly from your driver. A separate module isn't necessary. The kernel build define, CONFIG_KDB, lets you conditionally define KDB functions (using kdb_register(), kdb_unregister(), and so on). In the sample code, the driver contains two KDB debug functions, kdb_TankDataArray and kdb_ TankThrdState. Both of these functions are exported from the driver and called directly by dump_tankdata() and tank_threadstate() in the sample KDB module tank_kdbm.ko. This illustrates how you can hook into KDB from a module or directly from your driver. The debug functions themselves, kdb_TankDataArray and kdb_TankThrdState (both located in the driver), dump the tank data array and thread state.
Debugging Tips and Tricks with KDB
Because KDB is an assembly debugger, it is difficult to figure out what's on the stack or in memory. However, if you create a global variable in your driver, then you can refer to this global by its symbolic name when using the KDM display memory command (mm).
For example, declare this in your driver:
ulong g_currentstate;
Update this variable in your driver as necessary (per your logic flow). When KDB is invoked, you can easily display or modify the contents using the command, mm g_currentstate.
Another technique is to create a circular buffer containing debug statements and save the pointer to the buffer in a global variable along with the current index (last entry made in buffer). When the kernel panics or another error condition occurs, you can use KDB to dump the contents of the buffer by using the global pointer. This gives you a snapshot of activity and any recent errors that your driver has logged. This is really an old technique, but one that is helpful and usually implemented in most driver or embedded projects.
If your driver uses any tables or key data structures such as a structure containing device information, then you can create a KDB command to display the contents of the tables or any data structure in a nice, readable format. This is where a custom KDB command is ideal, because you can extend KDB to display or modify driver-specific information.
How often have you seen the comment, "This cannot happen" in a source file? Nope, no way should the code be executing here. Right? I'm guilty of writing this comment and have been proven wrong when, yes, the code actually does execute these particular lines of code. In situations such as this, you can invoke KDB directly from your driver by simply using the macro, KDB_ENTER() (defined in include/asm/kdb.h). This freezes the execution of your driver and enables you to debug your code and hopefully answer the question: Why is the code executing in the wrong place?
The sample driver contains an example of invoking KDB directly by using the sample user application. The user application uses the IOCTL_FORCE_KDB ioctl() call. Invoking KDB directly is great when your code detects a corrupted link list, invalid state, or an unknown input. You can freeze the driver state when the error occurred. This is especially helpful if you are running an overnight test and this error condition occurs during the night. In the morning, you can examine the state of your driver.
Because you have access to the kernel source, you can directly modify the kernel panic function to display debug information specific to your driver. To do this, create a function pointer as a global variable within the kernel itself. When your driver loads, set this pointer to a function within your driver; when the system panics, check if the function pointer is NULL. If not, then call the function (which is in your driver) using the function pointer directly from the panic code. When your driver unloads, set the global function pointer to NULL. Unless you are building your driver directly into the kernel, you need to create a global variable because your exported debug function is not known to the kernel at boot time. The kernel panic function is called panic() and is in the kernel source file, kernel/panic.c. This is handy when the system panics because you can display debug information for your driver. While this technique is not KDB specific, it is good to know.
KDB Sample Driver
The sample driver I include with this article is a char driver that monitors the air pressure of a scuba tank during testing. Because of the high pressure used, scuba tanks have to be hydrostatically tested every five years. This test consists of filling the tank with water, submerging the filled tank within a larger test tank also filled with water, and then pressurizing the water within the tank. As the water within the scuba tank is pressurized, the tank itself expands; the amount of tank expansion is measured and must fall within a specific range. This procedure tests the strength of the tank itself. (An interesting web page that describes this procedure in more detail can be found at http://www.deep-six.com/page37.htm.)
The sample driver monitors the pressure within the tank and the amount of expansion the tank experiences during the testing cycle. A real-world monitoring system would use some type of external hardware (like a PCI card or USB device) connected to the specialized test system to provide the real numbers; for our purposes, the sample driver generates sample data internally. There are two data types: tank pressure and tank expansion. The sample driver maintains a circular queue of tank pressure and expansion using an array of structures of tank_test_data_t (defined in tank_ioctl.h). When the driver loads, the function InitMonitor() initializes this queue; the pointer to the queue buffer is saved in the driver structure tank_mon_device_t. A kernel thread, TestDataThread, is used to simulate a real device that would measure tank pressure and expansion. The sample application, tankapp, uses a set of ioctl commands to start, stop, and reset the thread. The sample application is also used to read the actual tank data and invoke KDB directly.
KDB Debug
Given this sample driver, how can you use KDB to help debug? The sample code presents two KDB commandsone displays the thread state and the other dumps the contents of the circular buffer. In this sample, the circular queue contains tank pressure and stretch, but queues are common structures used by device drivers. Disk I/O, events, network packets, cell packets, and pending actions are examples of things that get queued by different drivers. In addition to KDB commands, the driver invokes KDB directly when the user application calls the IOCTL_FORCE_KDB ioctl command (by running the command tankapp-k).
The KDB module source code is located in tank_kdbm.c and registers the KDB commands tankdata and tankthrd when loaded. The sample driver registers the KDBM commands, tkdata_drv and tkthrd_drv, when it loads. The KDB module and driver both ultimately call the driver functions kdb_TankDataArray and kdb_TankThrdState implemented in the driver. The KDB help command displays the commands registered by the driver and standalone KDB module.
To run the debug commands from the KDB prompt, enter these commands:
tkdata_drv 10
The first command displays 10 lines of tank test data, while the second displays thread state. Figure 3 is sample output from the KDB commands.
KDB is a powerful tool and you should use it whenever you are developing a driver of any complexity. After reading this article and studying the sample driver, you should be able to incorporate KDB into your next driver.


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Note: if you are here for the giveaway, it is in the Mad Hatter post!
This year, we have had several birdie broods grow up in and around the trees in our yard. We have a family of blue jays that have been with us since early spring. They come several times during the day, looking for bugs and playing in the birdbaths.
Momma bird is always the first to show up and the first to leave. When her babies were fledglings, she would come in and sit on the fence. The others wouldn't come until she called, then they would come in one by one. Papa bird always came in after the last baby arrived.
Some of the babies fledged later than others and there was a new baby joining them every few days until all 7 started arriving together. Now, it is quite a spectacle when they arrive because they swoop in as one big flock.
There are lots of little baby feathers in the birdbaths after they leave...
"There's more to a jay than any other creature. You may call a jay a bird. Well, so he is, in a measure, 'cause he's got feathers on him and he don't belong to no church perhaps, but otherwise he's just as much a human as you and me." -Mark Twain


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This Morning Guest Editor 9/1 – 9/5: Joseph Fasano
My final selection for this week is Joe Bolton's "Page," written very shortly before the poet's early death. Maybe Bolton's name itself compelled him to become aware of a particularly lonesome music, but I don't know many contemporary poets who can orchestrate the vowel "o" with more power. His "Adult Situations" ends with this sober lament:
In our houses,
In our closets–
Clothes we put on
In the hope of
Taking them off.
I'm not sure how Bolton wrote so many astonishing poems in his brief life, but his selected poems, The Last Nostalgia, is full of triumphs. In his "Photograph: Being Sad," a young woman adjusts her Nikon for a self-portrait and lies down, "Drawn so tightly into her own arms / As after making love which is not love."
And of course there's the final line of today's poem, one of Bolton's last. His teacher Donald Justice would have been proud.
It's been a pleasure guest editing This Morning this week, and I want to thank John Deming, Erin Lynn, and all the editors for inviting me to be a part of Coldfront's amazing work.


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For those of you with the NFL Network, the Packer loss to Denver in Super Bowl XXXII is being replayed now (8pm EST). Among other things, it'll be good to look at Dorsey Levens, who does look a lot like Ryan Grant just standing in his uniform. And Ed Hochuli before he, um, bulked up.
UPDATE: Ryan Grant runs exactly like Dorsey Levens. I forgot how dominant that first drive was. Ugh.


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At least they didn't throw in one new one in each set to get us to buy them again .
These are a reluctant pass for me. I like the inner box art. Maybe if they go on sale I'll get a set of each to keep boxed. I have a full set carded and a full set loose, plus some extra troops. So I don't really "need" these sets.
I would get it because the ones I have are carded....I have no extras to open.
Has anyone heard any reports other than the one on jd from a week or so ago about these being seen in a store?
Is Hasbro located in California? I swear you guys get EVERYTHING first. Lucky bastages!
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Misty May-Treanor Dancing on the AVP Tour and on the Great Wall of China
Misty May-Treanor has been on the list of ever Dancing with the Stars cast spoiler I've seen. I must admit that I think having Misty May-Treanor on Dancing with the Stars is an incredible idea. It would be absolutely entertaining and she'd be great television.
Don't believe me? Check out these videos of Misty May-Treanor dancing.
Here's a nice collage video of Misty May-Treanor dancing on the AVP tour. Turns out she dances before every match.
If you didn't like Misty's freestyle, then Misty May-Treanor also danced with the Beach Girlz (basically a bunch of hot girl dancers on the AVP tour). Definitely respectable.
Also, if you watched the Olympics, then you probably saw the piece done on Misty May-Treanor where she's dancing on the steps of the Great Wall of China. I can't find that clip anywhere yet, but you can see what kind of a ham Misty May-Treanor is by just watching this video of her before and after she dances on the Great Wall of China:
I think this means Misty May-Treanor will make for some really great Dancing with the Stars television.


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Misha Young
Industrial Design
Misha Young owns and operates the Cupertino design firm Logic Designworks LLC. He began doing professional design consulting in 2002, starting with Photoshop but quickly growing to include concept sketches, surface modeling, and web design. In 2004, Misha earned a certificate in Solidworks at De Anza college and began offering model making and design for manufacture capabilities. He also holds additional SolidWorks certifications as a C.S.W.A. and C.S.W.P.
Link to website www.logicdw.com


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Lyons MI Real Estate & Homes for Sale
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The median home value in Lyons, MI is $106,500. This is lower than the county median home value of $117,000. The national median home value is $231,815. The average price of homes sold in Lyons, MI is $106,500. Approximately 79% of Lyons homes are owned, compared to 14% rented, while 8% are vacant. Lyons real estate listings include condos, townhomes, and single family homes for sale. Commercial properties are also available. If you like to see a property, contact Lyons real estate agent to arrange a tour today! Learn more about Lyons Real Estate.
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Property being sold as-is, nice lot just outside of downtown
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Possibly the most valuable content at the Morningstar Investment Conference, held June 12-14 in Chicago, is a rather technical session on the subject of "gamma" whose applications have immediate take-home value for financial advisors.
Morningstar's David Blanchett delivered the talk. He, along with his Morningstar colleague Paul Kaplan, is the mastermind of gamma, a nifty Greek letter that comes after alpha and beta in the Greek alphabet but, as it does alphabetically, goes beyond those two in terms of adding value.
While alpha investors are looking to add that 100 basis points in total return and beta investors are seeking to match the market while minimizing risk, Blanchett and Kaplan estimate that gamma enables advisors to enhance the welfare of their clients to the tune of 29% more income, which equates to 1.82% in added alpha.
Better still, alpha is a zero-sum game—your win as a buyer is another investor's loss as a seller. With gamma, however, every advisor and every client can win.
In practical terms, financial advisors often face a skeptical public that questions whether they are worth the fees they charge. If clients perceive that the key value the advisor adds is fund selection, many will cut out the middleman and buy the funds themselves, using consumer ratings.
What Blanchett and Kaplan have attempted to do is quantify all the ways an advisor adds value. Blanchett divided an advisor's value into five key areas: total wealth allocation; dynamic withdrawal strategy; annuity allocation; tax-efficient asset location; and retirement portfolio construction.
Tax-efficient asset location may provide the simplest example of a service advisors provide that increases client wealth. Do-it-yourself investors may make excellent investment selections, theoretically, but limit the benefits of those investments by leaving "tax alpha" on the table.
A classic example is bonds. Because their realized income is taxed at ordinary income rates, they are highly inefficient from a tax standpoint. Stocks, on the other hand, are far more tax-efficient, incurring a 15% capital gains rate.
So an advisor, because he understands the client may be paying a 35% tax on an investment whose historical average has been just 5% (and is possibly in secular decline), will recommend the client keep the bonds he needs in a nontaxed traditional IRA or 401(k), for example. Blanchett says a good advisor will first determine the appropriate allocation for the client's unique circumstances, and only then determine where to locate the assets across accounts.
Another illustration of advisors adding gamma is in the area of retirement income, where their ability to frame the decisions and tailor them for clients with different outlooks is key.
It is common for people to see portfolio withdrawal strategies as sexy and annuities as somehow grotesque, Blanchett says. Yet Social Security is an annuity that is rather well-regarded by the public; with its security and inflation adjustment, it is extremely valuable.
But what is really at issue are two key decisions—what impact retirement income will have on your accumulated wealth and how afraid you are of outliving your wealth. Blanchett cites a study by Allianz asking whether people were in greater fear of dying or outliving their income, and more people feared the latter.
Yet people don't like the idea of handing their wealth over to an insurance company. Advisors can point out that people hand over their money to their home insurance company wthout any expectation they will make money on the deal.
Another way to frame things: Would you rather have a low-cost annuity from Vanguard or a portfolio withdrawal strategy based on active managers charging 300 basis points? Ultimately, Blanchett says, "If you really care about your wealth, you don't want an annuity. But if you're afraid, you don't want income risk. For each person, preference factors and perception of risk differs."
Either way, advisors help their clients plan for an uncertain future. Most "black swan" events, Blanchett says, are really "black turkeys"—events that are foreseeable if unlikely. Looking at whether you smoke and other factors, it is reasonably possible a person will live to 105. Not having an annuity, yet planning to live to an old age, may unduly prevent a person from consuming enough income.
Gil Weinreich contributed to this report.


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Thanks to the success of his 2010 Oscar-magnet The Fighter, David O. Russell has been able to parlay that acclaim and interest to new projects, including Silver Linings Playbook, a Weinstein Co. feature about bipolar disorder starring Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro and Jennifer Lawrence, which premiered this past Saturday at Toronto (read Matt's positive review here).
Russell is also looking towards doing an upcoming film about the Abscam corruption scandal, a currently untitled piece (previously referred to as American Bullshit), that will be another collaboration with Cooper, as well as Amy Adams and Jeremy Renner. Now word comes that Cooper may link up again with Russell for a property he acquired called American Sniper. Hit the jump for more on these projects as well as this new found creative partnership (and where the zombies come in).
Russell recently sat down with THR to talk about the Silver Linings Playbook, and how the deal with Mark Wahlberg fell through at the last minute, leading to Bradley Cooper taking his place:
"We'd had a bunch of meetings over the years — I met him at a party and met him at Bob De Niro's house once — and we would say we wanted to work together. We were talking about doing Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and The Bends, a project I wrote, a kind of cousin to Vertigo that's still around."
Russell noted that he and Cooper have discussed doing American Sniper together, but no solid commitment has been made. As for what draws Russell to Cooper as an actor, one might not expect Wedding Crashers to be invoked, but indeed …
"I knew he had this anger and this edge from the characters he played around Wedding Crashers; he had a sort of intensity and broodingness that was palpable. You could feel that in him. And we talked about how that had been something he had been through and had since moved beyond in many ways — he now is a very sincere, open and vulnerable person — and I thought that was an interesting combination."
Russell goes on to describe him as, "like an athlete who wants to burst out of the blocks and wants to stretch in all these new ways," and said that he and De Niro "took a shine to one another." Looks like this could all be the beginning of a beautiful friendship …


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Sammy Sosa joined Pinterest a short while ago and it was nothing short of breathtaking. Anthony "Spice" Adams, the affable ex-NFLer maybe/maybe not still looking to catch on with a team, decided to join Sosa in his Pinterest endeavors.
The results are...interesting.
Pointing at pictures
Pointing at nothing
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Driving-while-texting practice*
Senators Sosa and Spice
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[Hall of Very Good]


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SAMJ: South African Medical Journal
On-line version ISSN 2078-5135
Print version ISSN 0256-9574
SAMJ, S. Afr. med. j. vol.101 n.1 Cape Town Jan. 2011
South African transplantation - where are we now and where should we go next?
To the Editor: South Africa has a huge potential for organ transplantation. Deceased donation is well established, and we are one of the few African countries with brain death legislation. However, despite adequate legislation and well-established transplant units, donor numbers are decreasing and in some areas living donation now outnumbers deceased donation. Saudi Arabia has set an excellent example in utilising deceased donors and is a role model for other Muslim countries in the Middle East and Africa. In a few years they have built up a deceased donation programme and donor numbers are increasing yearly.1
South Africa should strive to provide transplantation leadership and support in the developing world. This requires renewed efforts in obtaining and utilising organ donors. Donation after cardiac death is limited to Groote Schuur Hospital. Consent rates for this type of organ donation are higher in underdeveloped countries, as reflected in increased consent rates at Groote Schuur Hospital. This programme has huge potential, especially in state-sector hospitals where resources to treat head-injured patients are limited.
Factors inhibiting deceased donation from growing in South Africa are religious and social issues, lack of government support (variable organisational systems and variable infrastructure), inappropriate allocation of resources, and a lack of active effort by transplant co-ordinators and doctors in this field. Further obstacles in South Africa are inadequate disease prevention programmes, lack of awareness about brain death diagnosis among health care workers, and lack of funding. Despite a low average income rate in Iran, living and deceased donation is taking place and deceased donation increases yearly.2
In most countries where commercial transplantation took place it had a huge impact on organ transplantation. Deceased donation rates fell dramatically and transplantation for the local population decreased. This is not currently taking place in South Africa, probably because of huge efforts by the Transplantation Society and the Istanbul Declaration Custodian Group.3 This continuing worldwide problem warrants constant attention.
Liver transplantation in South Africa is limited to deceased donor liver transplantation. Turkey, Egypt and Iran have active living related liver transplantation programmes, and most transplants are done for paediatric recipients. There is no living related liver transplant programme in South Africa, despite a favourable recipient pool at Red Cross War Memorial Children's Hospital.
South Africa must compare itself to other developing countries regarding organ donation and transplantation. We cannot compete with the developed world in terms of infrastructure, support and funding. However, transplant surgeons and physicians must renew efforts to establish and preserve these programmes in the state and private sectors. It is important that continuous efforts be made to increase our deceased donation rates to serve the population awaiting organs.
Elmi Muller
Groote Schuur Hospital
Cape Town
1. Atter B, Shaheen F, Souqiyyeh MZ, et al. The experience of expanded criteria donors in kidney transplantation in Saudi Arabia: 2008-9. Oral presentation, MESOT congress, Tunisia, 18-21 October 2010. [ Links ]
2. Ghornai F, Vishteh HRK, Shafaghi S, et al. Brain death training for hospital workers increase donor detection rate. Oral presentation, MESOT congress, Tunisia, 18-21 October 2010. [ Links ]
3. The Declaration of Istanbul on Organ Trafficking and Transplant Tourism. http://www.declarationofistanbul.org/ (accessed 7 December 2010). [ Links ]


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San Diego's iconic Coronado Bay Bridge may be a popular overpass for locals – but a transportation organization claims the bridge has been designated "structurally deficient" by Federal Highway Administration standards.
According to an analysis of the 2012 National Bridge Inventory by the non-profit advocacy group Transportation for America, the Coronado Bridge is not entirely up to par when it comes to key structural components.
The organization, which aims to reform how transportation dollars are spent at federal, state and local levels, says the bridge above San Diego Bay gets an average of 78,000 cars crossing through each day.
But, like thousands of bridges across the nation, Transportation for America says the local bridge is "structurally deficient," meaning it requires significant maintenance, rehabilitation or replacement.
According to this report, highway bridges consist of three components: the superstructure, which supports the deck of the bridge; the substructure, which uses the ground to support the superstructure; and the deck, the top surface of the bridge that vehicles and people cross.
During federal inspection, each feature is given a rating between zero and nine, with nine representing the best condition. Federal guidelines classify bridges as "structurally deficient" if one of the three aforementioned components is rated at four or less, which means engineers have identified a major defect in the bridge's support structure or deck.
As it stands, the Coronado Bridge is rated a four for its deck, and seven in both its superstructure and substructure, according to the Transportation for America website. Those combined figures make it structurally deficient by federal standards, like many other popular bridges across the U.S.
The organization says a total of 69,223 bridges – or 11.5 percent of all highway bridges across the United States – are classified "structurally deficient" according to the Federal Highway Administration.
Additionally, many bridges exceed their expected lifespan of 50 years. Transportation for America says the average age of an American bridge is 42 years.
The 2.12-mile Coronado Bridge officially opened on August 3, 1969, making it nearly 44 years old, according to the City of Coronado.
As far as statewide statistics are concerned, this national bridge report says 12.8 percent -- or 3,135 -- of California's 24,542 bridges are structurally deficient, so the Coronado Bay Bridge is far from alone in its classification.
A look at Transportation for America's website reveals numerous ailing bridges within a 10-mile radius from the Coronado Bridge, including the Clairemont Drive bridge, which received a deck rating of two.
Transportation for America says other iconic bridges deemed "structurally deficient" include New York's Brooklyn Bridge, Chicago's North LaSalle Street Bridge, Steel Bridge in Portland, Ore., and Longfellow Bridge in Boston.
Transportation for America says most bridges in the U.S. are inspected every two years, but bridges that have been declared "structurally deficient" must be inspected every year.
Meanwhile, local civil engineers say it's still safe to drive across the Coronado Bridge.
But, it could be showing signs that work needs to be done to prevent bigger problems.
"If the bridge was unsafe, it would be posted with a lower load rating or it would be closed completely," Jim Frost of the American Society of Civil Engineers told NBC 7.
Frost says the "structurally deficient" designation for the Coronado Bridge could be attributed to smaller issues with the road or deck.
"As you drive across the bridge you might notice that there are little potholes or openings in the deck. That ultimately will lead to a worse and worse problem," he explained.
Civil Engineers say this news points to the looming problem facing San Diego and the rest of the country of neglecting our infrastructure.
"The rest of the infrastructure in the country has just been underfunded. It's continuing to be underfunded, and unless we put a plan together to fix that, we're just passing that problem to the next generation at a higher cost in the end," added Frost.
Caltrans maintains the Coronado Bridge, but NBC 7 was unable to reach them for immediate comment.